Rhyme and Reason

“Poets used to be national heroes,” says Charly Fasano. Somewhere along the way, though, their art form became elitist and institutionalized. In an attempt to bring accessibility back, Fasano is releasing Not Good With Names, a poetry-based combination of illustrations, written word and audio published by Fast Geek Press.

The multimedia work includes a series of thirty linocut block-printed portraits, each accompanied by short poems about characters who are drawn from real life. “They’re little bits and pieces of a bunch of different faces that I’ve seen over the years,” explains Fasano. “They’re small composite characters that kind of show life as life is — very quickly, as if you were walking through a crowd and you just were looking at face by face as you walked along.”

For the audio portion, Fasano recorded the poems in an audio file and sent it to local band Malamadre, which in turn recorded improvisational music to go along with the pieces. The book features a QR code that can be scanned with a smartphone to access the audio recording. That way, readers can listen to Fasano read with the music while they flip through the pages.

The book will be released at the Walnut Room, 3131 Walnut Street, tonight at 7 p.m., with live performances by Malamadre, Champagne Charlie and Gora Gora Orkestar. Tickets, $8, are available online at thewalnutroom.com. The book will be sold locally at Kilgore Books & Comics and Mutiny Information Cafe. For more information, visit fastgeekpress.tumblr.com and cmousefasano.com.
Thu., Aug. 8, 7 p.m., 2013